Was Mehdi Abeid Newcastle's unluckiest player against Tottenham?

Newcastle United midfielder Mehdi Abeid could rightly feel aggrieved to only feature for 45 minutes of the Magpies’ clash with Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend.

The 22-year-old Algerian was replaced at half-time by French winger Gabriel Obertan, but considering the score was only 1-0 at the time, and Abeid had impressed in the early stages, the decision was questionable.

Newcastle went on to lose the match 3-1, with Jack Colback’s goal shortly after the re-start a mere consolation after Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane added to Nacer Chadli’s opener.

But back to Abeid, who was one of the few Newcastle players to stand out for the right reasons in the first 45 minutes and who racked up some fine individual statistics.

Passing Accuracy

Ball Recoveries

Dispossessed

Tackles Won

Interceptions Won

Duels Won

Touches

Mins Played

Mehdi Abeid

80%

4

2

3

0

5

25

45

The Newcastle player had a passing accuracy of 80 per cent while he was dispossessed only twice in the first period. He also recovered the ball on four separate occasions as well as winning three tackles and five duels.

Abeid may not have won any interceptions in the first half but he did enough things right to remain on the field for longer.

We will never know what would have happened had Newcastle stuck with their young midfielder, but there is no doubt he can feel unlucky not to have been given that chance.

Vincent Ralph

After graduating with a degree in English Literature, Vincent completed a NCTJ-accredited qualification in newspaper and magazine journalism in 2005. Shortly after, in a somewhat leftfield move, he began working at a secondary school in Kent. After eight years – the last four of which were spent as Head of Sixth Form – he began to write full-time, combining his love of football with his passion for the written word.Alongside his work for HITC Sport, he also writes film reviews for HITC Lifestyle… along with the odd music interview when fate allows.